St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1887-11-05
A TERRIBLE CHARGE.
The Loss of the Vernon Attrib-
uted to the Intoxication of the

The Loss of the Vernon Attrib-
uted to the Intoxication of the
Captain.
CHICAGO, Nov. Edgar A. Hall,
brother of the second engineer of the
Vernon, stated yesterday that the last
time his brother was in Chicago he told
him that Capt. Thorp, master of the
Vernon, had an attack of delirium
tremens while on top of the pilot house.
the Northern Michigan line, and was
clerk of the propeller Champlain until
a short time before she burned, when
he resigned to accept position as book
keeper with Hanchell Bros, 20 LaSalle
street. He also said that it ought to
have been well known to the other
officers of the line that Capt. Th0rp was
a hard drinker, and that he had often
left port while drunk. Mr.. Hall gave the
name of prominent wholesale mer-
chant who had recently made trip Oil the
Vernon, who had told him that Capt.
Thorp was drunk during the entire time
he remained ON the boat. The brother
of Mrs. M. E. Vanamburgh called at the
Tribune Office last night and said that
his sister arrived in Chicago on the Yer
non Sept. 3, accompanied by Miss Addie
Mickey, of Waterloo, N. Y. The
steamer was three days longer than
usual making the tip from Sheboygan,
and both ladies told him that the cap
tain was drunk all the time. Alex Stone,
the only survivor of the disaster, when
asked If he ever saw Capt. ThOrp drunk,
replied:
The captain was drunk most of the time.
nd hfay 6rr1r, rnQy wa ShnhnV-
gan last week. While we were coming
through the straits the second mate said to
him:
''Sober up. you drunken beast, and take
care of this boat and the people"
The captain told him to go to h. l wa
in the cabin at the time and heard every
word that was said. Friday night which
was the night that the steamer was lost. the
captain was as drunk as | ever saw him, and
he kept taking drink every little while from
a bottle that he carried in his coat pocket.
/ guess that is why the first mate staid on
deck all of the time. He knew that the cap
tain was so drunk that he didn't hardly know
what he was about, and was probably AFRAID
the captain would do something foolish. II
the captain had been sober don't believe
the vessel would have been lost for any
sober man would have turned back when he
saw how badly she acted in the big sea.
The ordinary second mate of a pas
senger steamer would hardly dare to
use such language to the master as that
Stone ascribes to Capt. Higgins, but the
latter was not all ordinary second mate.
Up to short time ago he was in COM
mand of the steamer Leland and lost
his position when the ship changed
ownership. 1t is difficult to obtain a
command in the middle of the season,
and rather than remain idle he accepted
the first berth that was offered him. In
every sense he was careful and skill
full navigator, and if he had been in
command of the Vernon that fatal
night she might now be afloat. The
first f1 mate une 'o who t' had Tor many Years
commanded some of the finest sailing
vessels on the lakes. The last time the
Vernon was in Chicago Capt. Sullivan,
speaking of the seaworthineSs of the
steamer, remarked that she was all
right if properly loaded, but added that
she was being loaded deeper than she
ought to be.